1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cleaning compositions and to processes for utilizing such compositions to clean carpets, upholstery and other fiber surfaces. More particularly, the present invention is directed to surfactant-free cleaning compositions for use in removing soil and stains from carpets, upholstery and the like as well as for preventing redeposition of soil and stains on such surfaces and to processes for cleaning such soiled and/or stained surfaces utilizing surfactant-free cleaning compositions.
2. Description of Related Art
Commercial carpets, upholstery and other fiber surfaces are routinely treated with soil repellant finishes that form low energy hydrophobic barriers intended to prevent staining caused by various household soils. In this regard, common household soils may be either hydrophilic or hydrophobic in nature and generally have an intrinsic surface energy above that of normal carpet and upholstery soil repellant finishes.
Heretofore, it has been common practice to supply cleaning compositions for treatment of carpets, upholstery and such fiber surfaces in the form of solutions containing micelle-forming surfactants and polymer-micelle-forming surfactant complexes therein. The use of these micelle-forming surfactant ingredients have been demonstrated to provide certain advantageous properties to cleaning composition in terms of emulsification and dispersion of soils. However, the micelle-forming surfactants also have been found to exhibit certain disadvantageous properties which tend to outweigh their generally recognized benefits.
Specifically, the micelle-forming surfactants which have been utilized in prior art cleaning compositions have functioned to reduce the water/oil interfacial tension at the surface of the fiber substrate for purposes of encapsulating oil particles for removal in much the same manner as is typical for most consumer cleaning products such as hard surface cleaners, fabric cleaners, personal care products and the like. This lowering of the surface tension (i.e., the force per unit length on the surface that opposes the expansion of the surface area) when prior art aqueous cleaning solutions has been utilized have been found to be counterproductive in practice resulting in the cleaning solution causing many soils and/or stains to penetrate into and “wet” the fiber surface, thereby, to cause the soiled section or stain in the fiber surface to spread over a larger area rather than to be removed. Additionally, this “wetting” tends to cause fibers to untwist, particularly under mechanical force, thereby causing increased fiber damage and wear.
Thus, it has been recognized previously that cleaning compositions are needed to apply to a soiled area or stain in a fiber surface that will not “wet” the fiber when applied and will provide adequate soil suspending properties in order to solve the problems which have been encountered with the prior art surfactant containing cleaning compositions.